Not using their heads

This past week I saw two stunning examples of why kids don't wear bicycle helmets.

On Thursday evening I was getting into my car to go home when a father and son rode by on a tandem bicycle. The son was wearing a helmet but the dad wasn't. What kind of example is that? As soon as the kid is old enough to assert his own way he won't wear a helmet either.

On Saturday I was at the Lloyd Folkfest in Bud Miller Park when I saw a dad with two kids. The older one had her own bike and she had a helmet. The younger child was safely strapped into a bike seat on dad's bike, complete with his own little helmet. Dad, of course, was bareheaded.

I rarely see an adult on a bicycle wearing a helmet. Little kids almost always wear them and older kids hardly ever.

My brother and I used to watch families cycle by our house, the kids all with helmets, the parents without. "Oh look," we'd say. "Orphans."

I once stopped a Mountie on the street who was riding his bike to work to ask him where his helmet was (I knew him and he usually wore a helmet)-- I think I'm a bit of a zealot on this issue.

I don't care if it messes your hairstyle. I don't care if you think it makes you look goofy. A helmet can save your life.

MADLibrarian

P.S. An excellent book that deals with this subject is Mick Harte was here by Barbara Park.

A portrait in black

I took this picture hours after Banzai had his little "operation". He spent the evening dozing and plotting revenge.



MADLibrarian

I am handywoman, hear me roar

Spent most of Sunday installing a new ceiling fan in my back bedroom. The old fan needed to go because:

a. It was really ugly
b. The light in the fan was no longer working

I looked all over town for a ceiling fan with a light that wasn't hideous (as most of them are). I finally got one at Home Depot in Edmonton when I was up there last week for a conference. It's kind of funky.



It came with four blade colour options (black, silver, two shades of fake wood) and two light cover options (white and this dark orangey thing with black speckles).



Aside from a phone consult with my dad and a friend about wiring-- I didn't want to set my house on fire-- I did the whole thing myself (just to prove that I could). I got to use my new stepladder in the process.

Now that I have a ladder (and light in the room) maybe I'll finally get around to putting up the curtains I bought months ago.

MADLibrarian

P.S. I did make cherry jelly-- 18 little jars of plain and 10 jars of Jalapeno pepper.